LOUISVILLE, Kentucky—Health and well-being company Humana Inc. announced it has reached an agreement with two national organizations to provide durable medical equipment (DME) services to help Humana Medicare Advantage HMO members achieve their best health at home.
The national DME providers, AdaptHealth Corp. and Rotech Healthcare Inc., will begin providing DME services for Humana’s Medicare Advantage HMO enrollees under a value-based structure beginning July 1, with each serving a specific region of the country.
According to Humana, the strategic partnerships reflect its commitment to expanding value-based care across its continuum of homecare services through its onehome subsidiary and its entire Home Solutions business. As part of this commitment, one of the company’s top priorities is to build and rapidly scale a comprehensive value-based homecare offering that covers 40% of Humana Medicare Advantage members by 2025.
The move also exemplifies the company’s intent to create a more unified approach to the sourcing of DME, resulting in a more coordinated experience for Humana Medicare Advantage HMO members and the physicians and health care professionals who care for them. Humana expects that the sophistication and scale of these DME organizations can help drive greater value for the members they serve, and as Humana more closely collaborates with these DME providers, members will receive a higher level of service that can further contribute to improved health outcomes. Likewise, for health care providers, this approach is designed to simplify and speed the process of ordering and obtaining medical equipment for their patients.
“Partnering with national DME partners under a value-based arrangement aligns with our goal to enhance access to the home care services we provide to patients across the country,” said Kirk Allen, senior vice president of Home Solutions at Humana. “We’re excited about the partnerships we’re announcing today because working with these organizations on a national level will help us streamline and simplify our efforts to get Medicare Advantage HMO patients the equipment they require with best-in-class service, while empowering health care providers to more efficiently fulfill their patients’ DME needs. These deeper relationships will also enhance our ability to deploy clinical programs aimed at reducing hospitalizations for our members.”
Humana and the national DME organizations are in the process of communicating this transition to Humana Medicare Advantage HMO members. The DME organizations will also begin directly contacting members who currently receive DME services to ensure all medical equipment needs are cared for once the new contracts take effect.
This move to national-level, strategic DME partnerships only pertains to Humana Medicare Advantage HMO plans. It does not pertain to Humana Medicare Advantage members enrolled in PPO or private fee-for-service (PFFS) plans, or Humana’s Medicaid, Commercial or TRICARE lines of business.
Terms of the DME provider contracts were not disclosed.
